Personally I am very happy with the way things are going this season.

last year i think the whole club was geared towards winning the league, which we did.... the narrow defeat to leeds ended the season and taught everyone a valuable lesson.... the league isnt worth winning under the current format.

this season smith has rested and rotated brilliantly... yes we have lost games... but who cares? they are only league games and don't matter really.

we are in the cup final, we are in the top 2, and most of our best players have only played half a season....

This season we will be going into the playoffs with a huge squad of talented players, most of whom are only just getting started.

we could end up winning nothing.... but i feel that the way this team has been managed, it has a great chance of winning both major trophies this season.

MD you sum up how I feel about season 2012 so far.
We have all got a Wembley trip to look forward to and our squad is currently healthy and ready for the last 10 weeks of games.

M Monaghan and friends could find some form coming into the playoffs and its happy days.

it feels like the team have just been cruising all season.... like they have been holding back on going up that final gear.

im expecting a strong fit team in this cup final do put up a very good account of themselves.

I was very disappointed with the season, until last weekend.

It felt like we were under performing, dropping points when we should be winning (ie. Salford) and not hitting top gear when we're capable of performing so much better.

Then, I realised what's happened; we're in the CC Final, we're in 2nd place and all our players are competing for a place (with the exception of Lee, who we've not got a replacement for). We're arguably in a stronger position than Wigan last year because our squad depth has been tested and developed, so there's a feeling that if certain players got injured we'd still be in a strong position; if Hodgo went, I wouldn't be worried to see Stef there, or if Moz was ruled out, Gaz, Hilly, Coops and Woody all have it covered - unlike last year.

That said, we've won nothing yet, so if we leave the season without silverware, we've done even worse than last year, so it's still all to prove!

The big plus for me this season has been the development of the younger players & the fact that they have played a significant number of games without looking out of place or disrupting the team.

The future is certainly looking good & given that we won't have to pay silly money means that in future we can run with a bigger squad as we aren't paying "stars" a lot of the salary cap.

Overall, I'd rather be in our position than Wigan's.

2nd with a Challenge Cup Final to look forward to and a healthy managed team.

With the added bonus of the club having the capacity to make a lot of money out of the Wembley visit. Happy days.

On the flip side, the weekly rounds of the season have been very poor.

yes, but under the current format league games are not much more than glorified friendlies anyway.

That's my point. Used to look forward to a season of rugby league. In reallity i'm just waiting for a handfull of games to come up.

This.

Why have we let the League be demoted to a series of warm up games? I know that last year we complained about the lack of recognition for the Winners and it was taken as sour grapes by most of our opponents, although a few to be fair recognised that we were the best team.

I recognise that there are plenty of positives a CC final, 2nd in the league and stronger squad...am I enjoying it more than last year? Show me some silverware

Some people are making it sound like we've given up on the league, we're second to a team we play in 4 weeks. And we have competed in so classic matches that I have thoroughly enjoyed, won lost or even the draw. With a fit squad of players, that have all had a lot of game time this year it's not unrealistic to mount a challenge of the league.

You weren't the best team last season though. If you can't handle the play offs it means you aren't the best team.

The fact that the Wire fans view the majority of the regular season games as friendlies is due purely to how poor Super League is and how enormous the gulf between the clubs is. You don't get fans in the NRL bemoaning the fact that their games are friendlies because the NRL is level enough that if you clock off there is a real risk you will lose a play off berth altogether or make the play offs a lot more difficult for yourself. Games are exciting there as both teams are packed with great players and it's almost always competitive.

If we moved back to first past the post now, it wouldn't mean every game was an exciting spectacle for the masses of fans who would turn up, it would just mean that for all but two or three teams the season would be over after the first month and the likes of Warrington and Wigan, going full tilt every week, would win by 60-70 most weeks. Teams like Salford, London, Wakefield, Cas, Hull KR, Hull and the likes would have no reason to play at all and you'd see some enormous scorelines.

Super League now is in a truly appalling state. You might not see it that way as comparatively you're probably better than you've ever been, but the standard in general has dropped dramatically. The Saints side I watch now is terrible, only one player in it worthy of being an international (Roby) and yet despite a terrible start we're rapidly chasing down 3rd place and are comfortably better than the teams below us It's not the format of the competition that makes Super League so poor, it's the teams in it. What we need is a reduction in teams, to 12 if not 10 and a reduction in the number of games played. Reducing the number of teams would mean a better spread of talent across the sides and more competition for places. There isn't enough talent to support 14 teams.

This. With bells on.

I can't believe how detatched I feel especially this year towards the SL general season. I still go to most of the games home and away, but only really look forward to Saints, Wigan, Leeds, Hull, and the Catalan away games, in addition to play offs and CC post the qtr final rounds and of course Wembley is super special. But that's a pretty sad indictment of how I view the competition considering I used to get excited pretty much all week leading up to a game, regardless of opposition. Now I sometimes even have to check the fixture list to remember who we play next.

It's also sad that it coincides with the most successfull era since I have supported the club. When we were e, I used to go to every game knowing we could either win or lose regardless of whether we were playing Widnes (sorry) or Wigan/St's and that we had a chance of scraping in to the playoffs for what would be one extra game to end what would have been considered a good season.

Now, it's more a surprise if we don't win, or don't win by x amount vs the rest of the league. Is this the price we pay for being semi successful, or just me growing old and boring?

We were clearly the best team last season and of that there can be no doubt or argument.
The play offs are just one off Cup games and as with all Cup comp's the best team does not always win.

The rest of your post is spot on and I agree with what you say, but you need to get over the fact that Wire are now better than Saints and will be for the foreseeable future and stop decrying our achievements though misplaced jealousy.

Oh and by the way now that your site has allowed RG back in has the Pie people relented and lifted your ban?